COLLEGE COMPLETION TAKES CENTER STAGE: The White House is hosting a star-studded College Opportunity Summit today, convening hundreds of federal officials, college presidents, nonprofit administrators and corporate CEOs to discuss strategies for boosting college completion rates. The administration held a similar summit last January, when presidents of more than 80 colleges and universities pledged to do more to help poor students attend college. The summit comes with a number of new initiatives. For example, the White House will announce two programs: A $30 million expansion of AmeriCorps will go toward creating opportunities for corps members to advise, mentor and support low-income students who want to attend college. And a $10 million investment by the federal Institute of Education Sciences will sponsor research on improving college completion. The studies will look at a variety of tactics, from curricular reform to financial aid interventions to new ed-tech tools.

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— The Education Department also plans to begin sharing information on FAFSA completion with select nonprofits that work on college access. And the agency will launch a pilot program to make Pell grants available to students taking college courses while still in high school. In addition to the federal efforts, leaders of every institution at the summit will make a specific commitment to improving access and completion. President Barack Obama will speak at the summit around 11:50 a.m. ET. (Watch live here: http://1.usa.gov/IKgGYn) Vice President Joe Biden, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, HUD Secretary Julian Castro and others will participate, too. Stephanie Simon has everything you need to know ahead of the event: http://politico.pro/1tIYLSg

‘TEACH TO ONE’ SHOWS GAINS: A technology-driven approach to teaching math shows promise in helping struggling low-income students move toward proficiency, according to an analysis by Douglas Ready of Columbia University’s Teachers College. Students in the program, known as “School of One” or “Teach to One,” are assessed daily on their math skills. An algorithm then recommends units of study for the following day. In any given classroom, some students will be listening to an online lesson, others will be collaborating with peers and still others will be studying with a tutor or working through a personalized problem set. More than 6,000 students in Chicago, New York, D.C. and elsewhere went through the program last year, some of them for the second year in a row. As a group, their scores on the MAP math assessment improved significantly — and students who started with the weakest math skills made the most strides. Overall, students in the program gained math skills at a rate that was nearly 47 percent higher than the national average, as measured by the MAP test.

— The study cautioned that the gains could not be attributed for certain to the Teach to One model, since there could be confounding variables. Nonetheless, “these early results are quite promising,” Ready wrote — especially since student skills improved faster last year than they did in the first year of the program. The program is aimed at students in grades 5 through 8. Read more: http://bit.ly/1pUzBni

CONGRESS LOOKS AT ACADEMIC FREEDOM OVERSEAS: A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hold a hearing today on whether American universities that open campuses in China face threats to their academic freedom. Witnesses will discuss the growing presence of American universities in China, the presence of Chinese Confucius Institutes in the U.S., and the “costs and benefits” of each during the hearing, said subcommittee Chairman Christopher Smith in a statement. Watch live starting at 1 p.m. ET: http://1.usa.gov/1yPkE7y.

PREVENTING MASS CASUALTY: Medical professionals and law-enforcement officers will converge on the Hill today to press Congress to enact legislation to require schools, malls and other public places to stock hemorrhage control kits to respond to mass shootings. The Stop the Bleeding Coalition argues that keeping the kits readily available — and training staff to use them — can help save lives in the event of a rampage. Several members of Congress are expected to attend the briefing, including Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Joseph Barton (R-Texas) and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy.

ACT ROLLS OUT POLICY PLATFORMS: ACT is out with new recommendations for K-12, higher education and workforce policy based on data and research conducted by the testing company. ACT has made policy recommendations before, but this is the company’s first comprehensive policy platform. The company will draw from the platform when making recommendations to Congress in coming months. The overarching theme: Align and coordinate policies across the education spectrum. See the full recommendations here: http://bit.ly/1tOFjCI.

KEEPING COLLEGES ACCOUNTABLE: Colleges and universities aren’t handling cases of sexual assault and harassment appropriately, but that doesn’t mean their role in handling such issues should be taken away, say Yale Law School students Alexandra Brodsky and Elizabeth Deutsch. In a piece for POLITICO Magazine, they argue that colleges and universities must continue to adjudicate sex crimes on campus, although critics say it’s absurd that a crime like premeditated gang rape should be handled by an internal disciplinary process. Many believe criminal law is the best way to handle campus sexual assault, but colleges are legally bound to protecting their students and ensuring that women can thrive as equals to their male classmates, they write. Administrators have to step up and take greater responsibility. The piece: http://politi.co/1FPEr9j

MAP IT OUT: Inequalities in education exist, persist and can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint. But a New America report says that mapping out inequalities — showing where communities are serving their students well and where there are gaps and holes — leads to better data visualization, which can draw attention and attract investment to the areas that need it most. The report: http://bit.ly/1ymDmnb

SOCIAL SCHOOL REFORM: The benefits of being popular don’t end when school does. A new report from the American Enterprise Institute on parent power in school reform shows that a big social network is a boost for parent advocates. Researchers found that parent advocates recruit allies who are active in their schools and are social butterflies. But keeping those allies engaged can prove a constant challenge. More: http://bit.ly/1pVMTQp

ABLE ACT HEADS TO SENATE: The House passed the ABLE Act on Wednesday, which allows parents of children with disabilities to create tax-advantaged savings accounts. Sen. Bob Casey told Pro Tax’s Hillary Flynn on Wednesday that he thinks House passage of the ABLE Act will earn the bill a “resounding vote in the Senate,” even though some senators might want to change the offsets for the $2 billion bill added by the House. Trying to mess with the offsets will be difficult at this point, Casey said, because there isn’t much time left in the lame duck session.

SIGN UP FOR CAPITAL EDUCATION, COMING DEC. 8 — your daily guide to the latest news in New York education, from pre-kindergarten to higher ed, from government to the for-profit sector. Written by Capital staff and filled with scoops, analysis and the most important news of the day on education leaders, institutions and the policies that affect them, Capital Education will be delivered to your inbox before 5:45 each weekday morning: http://capi.tl/1xtAQKd

HOT SPOTS TO WORK: Recent grads are all about working for Google, Apple and the NSA. The three rank among the top 10 companies or agencies that technology, engineering and business students find as the most desirable places to work. The AfterCollege Employer Popularity Index ranked top employers rated by recent graduates in technology, engineering, business, nursing, allied health and life sciences. Other top jobs? The Boeing Company for engineers, Genentech, Inc. for life science majors and Kaiser Permanente for nursing and allied health students. The full list of companies can be found here: http://politico.pro/1yhlgPR

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

— Parent Revolution founder Ben Austin is stepping down as executive director to pursue other opportunities, the group said in a statement. Alison Laslett, current chief operating officer at Parent Revolution, will step in as interim executive director.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— Graduating college later in life doesn’t have an impact on how much money graduates earn. Gallup: http://bit.ly/12o9euP

— The National Association of Charter School Authorizers is out with a comprehensive analysis of state charter school policies, analyzing the policy in each state and recommending next steps to strengthen those policies: http://politico.pro/1AhCHma

— More than 40 states engage employers in the development or review of state career and technical education standards and/or in the selection of industry-recognized credentials. The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium: http://bit.ly/1vNpgKC

SYLLABUS

— Former New Jersey state education commissioner Chris Cerf defends Newark’s school system in an op-ed. NJ Spotlight: http://bit.ly/1Ah2GKB

— The ACLU says Delaware's charter school laws have resulted in de facto segregation that violates the rights of minority students and students with disabilities. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/15PvbVS

— North Carolina education department used Koch-funded group to write history lessons. The Charlotte Observer: http://bit.ly/1tQIt8R

About The Author : Caitlin Emma

Caitlin Emma is a budget and appropriations reporter for POLITICO Pro. Prior to that, she covered education policy for Pro.

Caitlin graduated from UConn in 2011. As a reporter in Connecticut, she covered everything from state policy and politics, to police, courts, community book clubs and restaurant health inspections. She’s also a loyal UConn Huskies fan.

Caitlin donated her bone marrow in 2010 and has spearheaded a number of bone marrow donor drives. Ask her about it, and she’ll gladly convince you to register as a donor.

A Massachusetts native, Caitlin now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her dog Roxy and husband Bill.